Composite roofing



Oct. 6, 1964 l.. KlRscHNER 3,152,035

COMPOSITE RooFING Filed Aug. 1l, 1958 I N V EN TOR.

United States Patent O 3,152,035 CGP/EGSM RFING Leon Kirschner, 765i) Lavergne Ave., Skokie, Ill. Fiied Aug. 11, 1953, Ser. No. 754,445 8 Claims. (Cl. ll-146) This invention relates to composite rooting having a thin outer layer of metal as the weather surface.

Conventional roofing consists of non-metallic material such as felt, paper, wood or other non-metallic material suitably treated or impregnated with compounds to render the same Waterproof. Such material meets the usual requirements of low cost and ease of application. However, such conventional nonmetallic roong materials have certain disadvantages among which are a tendency to absorb considerable heat from sunlight, relatively poor resistance to weathering. The latter two disadvantages can be overcome by the use of metal roofing such as, for example, aluminum.

Sheet aluminum for rooting has many desirable characteristics but also has some serious drawbacks. Sheet aluminum which is mechanically strong enough to function as a rooting material is expensive. In addition, the mode of attachment of sheet aluminum involves taking precautions against breaking the metal surface through which rain or snow may penetrate.

lt has long been an objective of the industry to provide a roofing material having a conventional felt base with a weathering surface of metal such as aluminum which would be economical and which could be applied like conventional roofing.

In order to be practical, the metal, such as aluminum, must be quite thin, in the order of about four mils, and the roong material as such must be susceptible to handling as a conventional laminated material. If other metals are used, the thickness may be less. While many attempts have been made to provide a rooting material satisfying the above requirements, such attempts have been unsuccessful because of the failure of maintaining the metal foil in position upon the felt base throughout the entire area of the material under conditions of use.

There is no problem of bonding non-metallic sheet rooting materials as tarred paper, felt, etc. The bonding problem comes into being when metal and non-metallic fibrous materials are to be joined. Generally the difculty is present because of the great temperature range to which roofing is exposed.

As a rule, a roofing material must be capable of withstanding temperatures ranging from as low as 30 or 40 below zero to as high as 150 or 200 F. In addition to such temperature extremes, a rooting material must be able to withstand extremes of dryness and wetness and must be able to withstand the tendency of wind to delaminate the material. While there may be chemical cements or adhesives which can withstand Wider temperature ranges and which may be impervious to water, such materials are too expensive to be available for use in roofing.

Conventional adhesives or cements do not have the ability to operate under such wide temperature conditions. It must be borne in mind that the joint between metal foil and felt base must have some exibility or give to it even under conditions of extreme cold. lf the adhesive has no give, then the metal and felt layers will tend to buckle or separate due to temperature changes. Conventional cements or adhesives which function under some temperature conditions will fail to function under other temperature conditions.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a roofing which will maintain itself intact over substantially all conditions to which roofing is exposed.

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The invention in general contemplates the cementing or joining of a non-metallic base material such as felt or the like and a thin exible metallic sheet such as aluminum foil, copper foil, or the like, by means of at least two different cementing or bonding agents in divided but thoroughly intermixed generally discrete regions. The cementing or bonding agents have different temperature characteristics. As an example, one cementing or bonding agent may function under conditions of cold up to say 60 F. Another cementing or bonding agent may function over a temperature range of say 40 up to 200 F.

Some temperature overlap is essential. It may be desirable to have the overlap temperature range equal to the temperature range for most of the bad weather in a region.

The pattern where the respective cementing or bonding materials operate are intermixed so that excellent adhesion between the metal foil and non-metallic base material is secured with either one or the other cementing or adhesive agent independently of the other. The cementing or adhesive agents are generally not mixed and the individual regions of adhesion for the most part maintain their separate identities.

In a simple embodiment of the invention, a pattern of discrete dots having one cement or adhesive will be mingled with a pattern of dots of a different cement 0r adhesive, the two patterns being intermingled. One dot pattern will have the cement function over cold temperature while the other pattern of dots will have the cement or adhesive function over elevated temperatures.

Instead of having two different types of cement, three or more different types may be used, it being understood that each type of cement or adhesive has the cementing regions disposed in a discrete pattern which is generally distinct from other types of cement. It is obvious that the cementing region may be in the form of dots or larger areas, or in the form of long lines. As Will be more fully disclosed in connection with the drawings, the metal itself as well as the base material may have the surfaces thereof deformed or defaced.

In order that the invention may be understood, it will now be disclosed in connection with the drawings wherein:

FlGURE 1 is a plan view of a portion of the roofing material having applied thereto adhesives at intermingled regions.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional View of the new rootiing material at an intermediate stage, the drawing showing the adhesive particles in greatly magnified formA FGURE 3 is a sectional View generally similar to FIG- URE 2 but showing the nished roofing material.

The base upon which the metal foil is supported may consist of material 10 having any desired thickness and any desired characteristic. As a rule, base material 10 may consist of conventional sheet material such as felt, tarpaper or any conventional non-metallic roofing material either in the form of a single layer or in the form of a plurality of layers suitably waterproofed. Base 10 will generally be iiexible so that it may be rolled into conventional bundles.

However, if desired, base 10 may consist of rigid material such as Wood or any other rooting material which is not susceptible to being rolled. The thickness and strength of base material 10 will vary depending upon the quality of the material desired. Inasmuch as such roofing materials are widely known and readily available no detailed description thereof is necessary.

Attached to base 10 is thin metal foil 12 of metal such as aluminum. Foil 12 may have any desired thickness and for aluminum may, for example, have a thickness of about 4 mils. It is preferred that base 10 be waterproof to substantially the same degree as if used by itself as a rooting material. Metal foil 12, however, should be thin enough so that the rooting material will be iiexible and may be readily positioned.

In accordance with the present invention, foil 12 is cemented or attached to base over a large number of generally discrete but distributed areas which are indicated in the form of dots or circles in FIGURE l. The dots may indicate one type of cement or adhesive while the circles may indicate a different type of cement or adhesive. The relative areas of dots, circles and open space will vary depending upon the nature of the material, the spread of the cement or adhesive when the foil and base are pressed together.

As will be shown later, the pattern of dots and circles, as one example, may be applied upon base 10, foil 12 or one pattern may be on one and the other may be applied upon the other. As a rule, however, it may be desirable to apply both patterns of cement or adhesive upon the foil or the felt after which the two may be pressed together. In practice, depending upon the manner of application of adhesives, there may be some overlap of areas containing adhesives and consequent mixing of adhesives.

It may be more convenient and simpler to apply the adhesive to the non-metallic base, which in this particular instance is felt impregnated with asphalt. The adhesive may most conveniently be applied while hot and thin. The application of the adhesive to the felt may be made in any one of a number of ways. Thus, as one example, a printing technique may be employed. As another example, two adhesives may be sprayed, the spray being thin so that there will be no continuous coating of adhesive upon the felt. When using a spray technique, there will be some overlap of adhesives areas. However, considerable separation between the adhesives will be provided.

The metal foil will be applied `as a generally smooth sheet. The foil and felt may be run through hot rollers which will press the two together and tend to flatten out or spread the adhesives. Because of the tendency of the adhesive to spread, the initial pattern of adhesives on the felt may provide greater separation between adjacent areas than is desired in the end product. The drops or globs of adhesive on the felt will be flattened out and spread during the hot rolling.

The hot rolling may be followed by an additional rolling operation for embossing the metal to create local deformations 13. It is also possible to provide embossing rollers during the hot rolling of the foil and felt to compress the foil and felt together and emboss the foil at the same time. In general, the embossings may be made aS numerous as desired and will have some tendency to provide separate regions where adhesive may collect. Thus, the embossing of the foil will have a tendency to isolate one adhesive from the other, this being based more upon probability than actual attempt to register any embossing with any particular adhesive region.

An important function of the embossings is to provide expansion joints for the foil. Thus, the tendency of the foil to expand substantially over large temperature variations will permit the foil to adjust itself without tending to buckle the rooting material or to delaminate.

Instead of having intermixed patterns of generally circular regions for adhesives, it is possible to have lines, concentric circles, squares or any combination of dots and other iigures where adhesive is applied. Similarly, instead of having domes or embossings on the metal foil, it is possible to have linear, circular or other embossings. It is not even necessary that the embossing pattern on the foil resemble the adhesive pattern on the felt. However, a similarity of patterns will be desirable in order to promote the tendency of the metal to provide separate compartments for separate adhesives.

The finished laminated material may be handled like conventional rooiing material and may be nailed or otherwise attached to a support surface. Where the material 7.. is nailed in position, it may be desirable to overlap the nails with the rooting material so that no nails are exposed. The rooting materialmay be in the form of sheets, rolls of indefinite length andshingles of any desired size.

The nature of the adhesive or cementing materials may be selected to satisfy broad gradation of climate such as in New England and Texas. In all cases, however, the adhesives together will function over wide temperature ranges. As an example of satisfactory adhesives, the following may be used. For a low temperature (say from minus 30 F. to about 60 F.) adhesive, 100 parts of roofers asphalt (medium melting) mixed with 1.5 parts 0f raw tung oil. To the above a trace of cobalt octoate and a trace (001% to about .01%) of silicone `oil is added` To the above there is mixed one part of 200 mesh bentonite. This mixture is heated to about 275 F. and is stirred for thirty minutes.

Instead of tung oil, other vegetable oils or mineral oils or other plasticizers compatible with asphalt may be used. It is found that better adhesion is obtained. Additional improvement in adhesion is obtained if the adhesive is applied to the aluminum while hot.

The proportion of tung oil or plasticizer may be varied quite substantially depending upon the desired softness 0f the end product, the nature of the plasticizer and asphalt employed.

The cobalt compound when used with vegetable oils as tung oil functions as a catalyst in regard to the copolymerization of the vegetable oils. The silicone oil prevents air-bubble entrapment, eliminates the interference of moisture during application and protects against the effects of moisture even under freezing conditions.

The bentonite maintains the viscosity of the adhesive under elevated temperatures while still preventing the other components, such as asphalt, from escaping.

The elevated temperature (say from about 40 F. to 200 F.) adhesive may be made by using high melting roofers asphalt. A much smaller percentage of tung oil or plasticizer is used (.2 part per hundred parts of asphalt). The remaining constituents are generally the same. The mixture must be heated to about 350 F. and stirred for about thirty minutes.

It will be noted that in the example given above, the plasticizer as tung oil is present in both the low and high temperature adhesives. Any polymerizable material which is used will penetrate into the asphalt impregnated felt and will form a bridge to anchor the adhesive or cement into the asphalt.

In the drawings no attempt has been made to show proportions.

What is claimed is:

1. A laminated roofing material comprising a felted base and metal foil, the latter functioning as the outer Weather surface, said felted base and metal foil being cemented together at small discrete elemental areas, certain areas having an adhesive which is effective over a temperature range from about zero degrees F. to about 60 F. and other areas having an adhesive which is effective over a temperature range somewhat below 60 F. but above freezing up to about F., said two overlapping temperature ranges being greater than the eifective range of any one commercially available roofing adhesive, there being suicient distribution of the adhesive areas of each kind of adhesive to prevent delamination of the material when used as a roong material in a temperate weather zone, said rooting material being susceptible to handling and installation similar to conventional roofing materials available in roll form.

2. The construction according to claim l wherein said metal is aluminum.

3. The material according to claim 1, wherein said felted base is impregnated with asphalt.

4. The construction according to claim 3 wherein said foil has local deformations to provide expansion joints for the metal.

5. The construction according to claim 4 wherein said foil is provided with small domes as the local deformations.

6. The construction according to claim 1 wherein one adhesive comprises a medium melting asphalt and small 5 amounts or" plasticizer and bentonite and wherein another adhesive generally is the same except for the asphalt which is high melting asphalt.

7. The construction according to claim 1 wherein one adhesive comprises a medium melting asphalt with a small quantity of tung oil and bentonite and wherein the other adhesive is generally the same except for the asphalt which is higher melting asphalt.

8. The construction according to claim 1 wherein one adhesive comprises a medium melting asphalt, small amounts of plasticizer and bentonite and a trace of silicone oil and wherein another adhesive generally is the same except for the asphalt which is a higher melting asphalt,

References Citaal in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re 22,842 Hill Feb. 18, 1947 600,745 Sands Mar. 15, 1898 1,339,327 Ford May 4, 1920 1,665,222 Robinson Apr. 10, 1928 1,790,643 McGary Feb. 3, 1931 1,905,376 Fischer Apr. 25, 1933 1,908,127 Deacon May 9, 1933 2,003,728 Von Forster et al .Tune 4, 1935 2,016,429 Hayden Oct. 8, 1935 2,075,836 Spalord Apr. 6, 1937 2,661,300 Romberg et al Dec. 1, 1953 2,732,324 Morris Jan. 24, 1956 2,732,886 Andreoli et al. Jan. 31, 1956 

1. A LAMINATED ROOFING MATERIAL COMPRISING A FELTED BASE AND METAL FOIL, THE LATTER FUNCTIONING AS THE OUTER WEATHER SURFACE, SAID FELTED BASE AND METAL FOIL BEING CEMENTED TOGETHER AT SMALL DISCRETE ELEMENTAL AREAS, CERTAIN AREAS HAVING AN AHDESIVE WHICH IS EFFECTIVE OVER A TEMPERATURE RANGE FROM ABOUT ZERO DEGREES F. TO ABOUT 60*F. AND OTHER AREAS HAVING AN ADHESIVE WHICH IS EFFECTIVE OVER A TEMPERATURE RANGE SOMEWHAT BELOW 60*F. BUT ABOVE FREEZING UP TO ABOUT 150*F., SAID TWO OVERLAPPING TEMPERATURE RANGES BEING GREATER THAN THE EFFECTIVE RANGE OF ANY ONE COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE ROOFING ADHESIVE, THERE BEING SUFFICIENT DISTRIBUTION OF THE ADHESIVE AREAS OF EACH KIND OF ADHESIVE TO PREVENT DELAMINATION OF THE MATERIAL WHEN USED AS A ROOFING MATERIAL IN A TEMPERATE WEATHER ZONE, SAID ROOFING MATERIAL BEING SUSCEPTIBLE TO HANDLING AND INSTALLATION SIMILAR TO CONVENTIONAL ROOFING MATERIALS AVAILABLE IN ROLL FORM. 